Snow on the Lilies
by flutistin221b
Summary: When a infant girl named Lily is left on the steps of 221B who is Sherlocks, will he be able to raise her safely? Will John be able to overcome his losses to help Sherlock? Will Sherlock overcome his own demons to make sure his daughter is safe? TRIGGER WARNING: alluding to eating disorders and possible future mention of addiction/neglect. Please comment any suggestions!
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One

Footsteps. Rustling of parcels. A knock on the door. All but the last one were normal occurrences around 221B. It peaked Johns attention like nothing else ever had. It was just past New Years so they should not have cases this close after a holiday. John flashed back to four, wait make that five,years ago when he was the cause of the footsteps and near knock. His life had been grey,dull,and downright terrible. He was racked with nightmares about Afghanistan constantly and had dropped about a quarter of his weight in a very short hellish period of time. Sherlock Holmes had changed all of that.

From the moment they met color began to seep back into John's life. He felt alive again, his plaguing limp lost and his weight healthy again. Then,just as quickly as his life started to build back up,it came crashing down with the fall of a genius,a 'fake',the worlds only consulting detective, his best friend, Sherlock Holmes.

John turned back to old ways, hitting rock bottom harder and faster than he had the first time. He could feel his ribs and became a shell of the man he once was. He couldn't have started to recover without the help and support of everyone around him. Sarah allowed him time off from the clinic when he needed it and gave him flexible hours. Molly had given her ears and a shoulder to cry on. Lestrade had taken a particularly hard hit to the death and was always willing to go to a pub and drink with John and reminisce about a great genius and great friend. And then he met Mary,who added some color back into Johns life and was his first successful romance in years. Out of all the people in his life,Mrs Hudson had helped him the most. She was always there to help cook,clean,provide company and support,help him take calls and all the while foregoing her usual line of 'Not your housekeeper!' which was surfacing at the very moment as she went to answer the door and gasped as soon as she opened it.

John had forgotten that Sherlock would not be in the flat due to a case he had been solving since about three days after Christmas and would not answer the door had John not done it. He went to see what Mrs. Hudson's fuss was about and immediately saw it. A box and a baby carrier with a baby girl in it sitting in the softly falling snow on the steps if 221B Baker Street.


	2. Chapter 2

John was frozen to the step. Why was there a baby on their steps? Did Sherlock have anything to do with this? Most likely he turned to Mrs. Hudson , who had a look of equal shock and surprise on her face.  
"We should bring her inside. " John said, still wondering if the great Sherlock Holmes had something to do with this.  
"Well we can't leave her out here to freeze so we should. " Mrs. Hudson said as she picked up the baby carrier and examined a piece of paper that was pinned to a blanket. "Looks like Sherlock will have a lot of explaining to do when he gets home from the case. " she said, passing the paper to John. He nearly collapsed into the snow when he read the paper. It was a paternity test from St. Bart's confirming the father as Sherlock Holmes as well as a birth cirtificate stapled to it that stated her full name: Lily Michelle Holmes.  
'Hm. Whoever the mom was sure picked a cute name for the kid' , John thought. He turned to say what the name of the child to Mrs. Hudson but she had already gone up the stairs to the flat shared by John and Sherlock. John picked up the box and started up the stairs to the flat.  
After Sherlock left him, he never had the heart to move out so when Mary suggested moving in together he had actually convinced her to go to Baker Street. They were a almost perfect couple. They were happy and John was thinking of proposing to Mary when Sherlock returned from the dead. After punching him like a punching bag and nearly getting the police called on him for causing damage to three tables in the restaurant he and Mary were at as well as public disruption John had started to cry. He cried harder than he had every cried before and hugged Sherlock hard. Surprisingly Sherlock hugged back, squeezing John tight to his lanky frame all while apologizing and promising never to leave him again. Sherlock had taken the other bedroom that had formerly been his at the flat and the three lived in almost harmony until the accident that took Mary away from John never to have her return.  
It had been a fun night for the couple as well as one of Mary's friends Julieta. Sherlock had stated home as usual due to him having a case. After they left the restaurant they had been dining at,John had given Julieta the front seat and sat in the back because she had to sit in the rather uncomfortable seats in the back on the way there. He had been drinking wine while Mary hadn't so he didn't drive home that night. While driving Mary had made a wrong turn while driving back to Julietas flat and right as she turned back a drunk driver in a van hit them head on as Mary had turned around. The impact killed both women in the front seat immediately. John had a very hard time recovering but Sherlock helped him every step of the way. He had gotten a sense of compassion in his time away and seemed more human. John snapped out of his trance and began to help Mrs Hudson calm down from the sudden realization that Sherlock had a child.  
"He would have gotten the mother pregnant when he was away. She is only about a month old." John said.  
"But that seems so unlike Sherlock. He never is so spur of the moment." Mrs. Hudson pondered.  
"Well speak of the devil." John said as Sherlock came into the flat not noticing the baby girl.  
"What?" Sherlock asked, looking around, finally noticing the baby and turning whiter than a sheet and immediately sitting on the floor.  
"Oh so you do know about the baby. Who's the mother? And why?" John peppered him.  
"I didn't know the mother was expecting until right before she had the baby. She had fallen ill with a degerative muscle disease and I had agreed that if anything had happened to her I would take care of the baby. She said that she had caught her disease in the early stage and had a good chance of survival. She had the little girl and said she was on medication. She must have become too weak to take care of her. Her sister could have taken the baby here for her. And no John the sister couldn't possibly have taken care of her since I am her parent and therefore next of kin and had said that I would take care if her. And how long has she been sleeping?" Sherlock stopped talking and took a deep breath. "Oh and what's her name?"  
John and Mrs Hudson stared at him in shock of the awkward display of weird affection they just heard from Sherlock . Mrs Hudson spoke first.  
"I reckon she's been asleep now for about a half hour maybe 45 minutes at most. We haven't moved her out of the carrier or taken anything out of the box that we found with her. We did look at the paternity test however." Mrs Hudson said with the almost pride of a new grandmother but with a twinge of disappointment in Sherlocks decisions.  
"Her birth certificate was stapled to said paternity test and her name is Lily. Her middle name is Michelle. And why were you having sex while also dismantling Moriartys army?" John asked with a look that said everything he didn't say then.  
"Hmm. Lily is a very cute name I suppose. More of a fan of the name Justina personally but I wasnt there to put in my input. And I met her mother right after I finished dismantling the army and it was the night before I came back here that I got a little drunk and ended up having sex. I was much more relaxed then usual and not having alcohol in two years made my intolerance very low. " Sherlock replied glancing over at Lily sleeping in the carrier.  
She began to fuss and opened her eyes for the first time since she had been found. John bent over from the couch and picked her out of the carrier revealing her in a pink onsie and began to rock her. Sherlock moved from the floor and sat next to John on the couch to get a better look at Lily. He never really liked kids but he had to take care of one now so he better get used to it. Lily was the spitting image of her father. She has a surprising amount of dark hair that was just starting to curl and bright eyes that were just like his, green with blue as well as his pale skin and features.  
"Well she's your kid" John said, kind of laughing. "You should hold her. "  
Sherlock immediately tensed up. He had no idea how to hold a baby and carefully took her from John and held her out and looked at her. She was rather cute and looked like him a lot. Holmes family members did have a fairly strong resemblance to one another.  
John laughed at Sherlock holding the baby. He held her straight out and was staring at her like she was a little doll. It was rather cute but humorous at the same time. He was tempted to snap a picture but didn't out of the fact Sherlock did not like the pictures that John took.  
"Sherlock dear that is not how you hold a baby. " Mrs. Hudson said,trying to hide a twinge of laughter. She got up and helped Sherlock position his arms to properly hold her. Sherlock then began to rock her softly and Mrs. Hudson snapped a picture of the scene transpiring in front of her. Sherlock did not have problems with Mrs. Hudson taking pictures and this was a special moment for her. Lily was still fussy so John began to look in the box for anything resembling formula and a bottle. He found a note saying the last time she ate was four hours ago so she probably should now. John turned to Sherlock and said " She's fussy because she's hungry. We should feed her now. Do you want me to heat up a bottle for her or do you want to do it?"  
"Can you do it?",Sherlock asked. "I kind of want to look through the box of things that was found with her."  
John began to head to the kitchen to prepare a bottle while Sherlock stood up to pass Lily to Mrs. Hudson while he went through the box of things. He found nappies, diapers, a stuffed bumblebee and dog, a blanket, and at the bottom of the box, a letter adressed to Sherlock. He began to slightly shake and carefully opened it. He glanced over at Mrs. Hudson but she was carefully rocking Lily and smiling. She had a son many years ago,but he had died in a car accident and Lily was the closest thing she would probably have to a granddaughter in her life. The letter was written in a very careful manner and was very neat and most likely well thought out. It had to do a lot with Lily and what happened to the mother. The letter read:  
Dear Sherlock,  
I am sorry that I have to burden you with Lily but I have gotten too weak to care for her. My sister had taken her to your flat for me. She has connections to St. Bart's so she did the paternity test just to make sure you were the father. I could have taken care of Lily for longer but it has become too dangerous for me as well. My town has been terrorized by attacks as well as several other towns. I hope that she is good for you. She is very calm. I also hope that my village and other towns will come out on top of these savage attacks that have killed many people, most have been children. If you can help solve these attacks, do. I have faith in you. Lily is your spitting image and I have hope that she has your massive intellect as well. These attacks might spread to London but it is still the safest place for her to be. May Lily be a reminder to the good parts of life and the aspects of new beginnings  
With my love always,  
Josephine  
Sherlock began to tremble worse than before. There were attacks. That endangered his daughter. He could have lost her. He wouldn't have cared but now that he met her he couldn't believe it. He made a promise to himself that he would do anything to protect his little girl.  
John came back with the bottle to see Sherlock trembling on the floor and a very concerned looking Mrs. Hudson looking over at him. She glanced over at John right as Sherlock looked up at them.  
"There were attacks on her town. She was also too weak. They might spread." Sherlock said with a waver in his voice. He stood up and took Lily into his arms and began to feed her. John took this opportunity to take a picture weather Sherlock liked it or not.  
Lily fell asleep after being fed and burped and was very peaceful considering she was only a month old. Mrs. Hudson went to her flat excited as a proud grandma even though it wasn't her relation. Sherlock sat in his chair looking at Lily while John blogged about the case he was just on. Lily had grabbed onto Sherlocks slender finger in her sleep and didn't seem to have much intention of letting go soon. He leaned over her slightly and whispered, "I might not be the best dad but I will be the best I can. I will protect you. So will John. I hope he has a good influence on you. Don't let me screw this up. Or him."  
He didn't think John could hear him, but he could. And he couldn't have been more proud to have his best friend back.


End file.
